Rome

Day 485 (October 26, 2019) – Rome, Italy

Our trip to Rome was just like the last time we were there seven years ago – a whirlwind. Rome was expensive for us, so we only booked two nights. It was just enough time to make sure we got there on time to catch our cruise home, allowing ourselves an extra day just in case anything went wrong along the way. Fortunately, we arrived from Trieste without delay, and that gave us a day and half to see as much as we could of the city.

Getting off the train in Rome. If I look tired it's because I was. Our train departed around 6 am from Trieste, well before the sun even came up that morning. 

We checked into our apartment by the early afternoon. Although it was a long train ride, we had left well before dawn, so we still had a lot of the day left ahead of us. As soon as we dropped our bags off, we went right back out again and took the subway half-way across the city to the Vatican. Our plan was to start there and then walk back through downtown on our way towards home again. Last time we were in Rome I remember visiting the Vatican Museum and going inside St. Peter’s Basilica, but we didn’t have time for all that this time around, so we only walked through St. Peter’s Square. It’s a very impressive place, with statues on top of all the surrounding buildings. Although the strangest architectural piece is certainly the massive Egyptian obelisk that sits in the very middle of the square.

St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

As we walked towards downtown you could start to better see the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. We were almost too close to it in the square to really appreciate how massive it is. Although trying to get a picture of it without a pedestrian in the way became a real challenge. The tourist crowds were insane all throughout Rome, and this walk from the Vatican towards downtown is when we first encountered the crowds in great number. We crossed over the Tiber River at the St. Angelo Bridge and continued on our way to Piazza Navona, one of Rome’s many famous squares, which holds three fountains, including the imposing Fountain of the Four Rivers in the center of the plaza. I took way too many pictures in this place, but it was hard not to. The figures at the base of the fountain were sculpted by Bernini, and even though they are made of stone it looks like they are about to get up and walk right out of the fountain. They are truly impressive.

It's hard to tell just how big St. Peter's Basilica is when you're right underneath it. It seems better taken in from a distance.

St. Angelo Bridge.

Piazza Navona.

Bernini's sculptures at the base of the Fountain of the Four Rivers.

We continued along the tourist trail from Piazza Navona and walked a few blocks east to the Pantheon. This building is old. Really old. Estimated to be built in the 120s CE and it is still standing. Although the outside of the building looks like it should already be considered a ruin, the inside is much more impressive. Ornate marble flooring and walls, columns, and lots of natural light make the inside worth the wait in line to get in there.

The Pantheon.

Continuing to walk further east we eventually arrived at Trevi Fountain. This was yet another impressive sight, but you sort of had to forget about all the people to take in and appreciate the art. The more I looked the more detail I started to notice. It’s not just the main statues of the fountain, but the building that makes for the backdrop of the fountain also has statues and ornate stone carvings all over it. When we were done taking in the sights, we walked to Piazza Barberini where there was yet another fountain sculpted by Bernini in its center. Our intent was to take the metra home from there, but the stop was closed, so we continued walking onto Piazza della Repubblica where we were able to get on the metro again and take it back home.

Trevi Fountain and the crowds. Panoramas do not work so well with moving crowds in the foreground...

Another Bernini sculpture in Piazza Barberini. 

For dinner that night we went out for pizza. We only had a few meals in Rome, and we wanted to make them count. My artichoke and mozzarella pizza was good, but Travis’ pizza was better. Both times that we had gotten pizza in Italy I ended up with a white pizza rather than a tomato-based pizza. Guess I need to improve my Italian a bit to better understand the menu. On our way back home we each got a scoop of gelato from a tiny shop. We were staying a ways outside of downtown, admittedly because it was less expensive than being right downtown, but it was nice because there weren’t many tourists and you could tell that most of the people out and about were just regular people who lived there, running errands and going out for dinner.

The next morning, we took care of some errands of our own, stopping at the pharmacy and at the grocery store to pick up some last-minute items. We also stopped at a little shop to get some pizza rustica, which is like pan pizza priced by the kilogram, before starting our touristic activities for the day. Our first stop was the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran. Our Airbnb host recommended it and I understand why. The inside of the church is over-the-top ornate, from marble floors to painted ceilings and twelve huge sculptures of the apostles. Everywhere you looked the building was carved or painted. The outside of the building does not do it justice. There are statues standing along the rooftop, but they are nothing like what the inside holds. It’s funny that I remember Travis and I sitting on a staircase across the way from this building the first time we were in Rome and we never thought to go inside. We didn’t know what it was or even if you could get inside. But I’m glad we had a chance to see it this time around.

Pizza rustica. We had pizza the night before, but this was quick and inexpensive.

The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran did not look like much from the outside quite honestly.

The inside was a different story.

Statues of the apostles inside the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.

St. Bartholomew with his own flayed skin seemed to be the most gruesome of them.

The level of detail in some of the ceiling tiles was incredible.

Our walk took us to the Colosseum next. The line to buy tickets to get inside was ridiculous and we had no interest in that anyway. We had seen the inside before, and we didn’t want to spend all day standing around in a line. The Colosseum is impressive enough from the outside anyway. We continued past the Roman Forum and past so many ruins that neither of us had any idea what they were. Ancient buildings were everywhere around this city. We walked past the massive Victor Emmanuel II Monument, through Piazza Venezia, and eventually arrived at the Spanish Steps. We had missed the Spanish Steps on our first visit, but we had a chance to make up for it now. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it is basically just a large staircase that is a congregation spot for tourists. It was crazy crowded, but we walked up them and visited the church at the top. There is also another Egyptian obelisk at the top, in what was probably the twelfth obelisk we’ve come across at this point. It was late in the day by the time we finished, so we made our way back to the metra and took it back to our apartment.

There seem to be countless Egyptian obelisks around Rome, still with their hieroglyphs intact.

Obligatory Colosseum selfie.

Victor Emmanuel II Monument.

Looking down the Spanish steps. Note the sea of people in the streets below.

A more relaxing street to walk back home on.

We went out for a proper Italian dinner that night. Of course, we were the first people in the restaurant at 7:30 but it was a small, local place that seemed reasonably priced and was fairly low key. We both ended up with seafood-based pasta dishes. They were both very good, as was the bottle of wine we shared, although unlike most other restaurants, the serving sizes at this place were so huge there was no way we were going to finish them all. That night we packed up our bags and got ready for the final stretch of our trip, a two-week transatlantic cruise home.

Waiting for our train to Civitavecchia.

The next morning, we boarded a train bound for Civitavecchia, Rome’s cruise ship terminal that is an hour or so northwest of the city. We left Rome having the same mixed feelings about the place as I remember having before. I can’t decide if I like the city or not. Rome is a huge, overwhelming city, and the tourist crowds are really insane. It’s almost too much. Even in late October it was hard to walk down most streets without running into people. But it seems like nowhere else in the world is there so much ancient history buried literally underneath a major modern metropolis. Even in subway tunnels there are exhibits of old stone walkways and building foundations that just happened to be found during construction. Modern highways and roads are built under and around buildings and structures that have been standing in Rome for thousands of years. And every pedestrian street we walked on seems to end in a plaza filled with fountains and famous statues. It is no surprise that Rome is over touristed, but it’s a hard place to pass up, even taking into account the difficulties and frustrations that come along with so many people all wanting to see what makes the city so special.